Memorial Day Weekend

We were so excited for my cousins Eva and Tina and to come visit over Memorial day weekend! Eva brought her boyfriend Matt. It was so great to see them and spend time with them. Joey really had a good time getting spoiled, even though he is going through a separation anxiety phase of wanting me to be next to him all of the time.

They got here on Saturday afternoon, just intime to watch the Pens game and eat wings. Joe has become quite the wings cooker. He uses me dad's sauce recipe so it feels like we are at home in McMurray:)

On Sunday morning, our friend called in the morning to let us know that the shuttle was going to land at around 8:40am on base. We had to get up and get moving so that we could get out to the flight line in time. We made it and saw the second shuttle landing since we have lived here! It is pretty boring sitting there and watching it land, but how many people actually get to say that they have seen numerous space shuttle landings? Well, now the McKenna's can!

We just hung out on Sunday, playing with Joey, going to the BX and cooking. Joey had such a fun time playing with everyone.

On Monday, Eva and Matt left and Tina stayed to play some more. Tina and I went to see a movie and picked up dinner in town. Joey and I took Tina to the airport on Tuesday, but not before we went looking for some famous people in Beverly Hills. Unfortunately, we didn't see any.

We had such a great time with our latest visitors! I can't wait for them to come back to see us again!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Of course, I did a bad job of taking pictures. I will blame it on the fact that my camera just hasn't been the same since Joe brought it back from Brazil.

Joey getting kissess from Eva and Tina.

Eva and Matt

Joey playing cars with Tina

Playing Ace-Duecey

Trying to get a picture with Eva, Matt, and Joey

Early Summer Fun

We have been playing outside a lot recently because of the hot weather. Last weekend, we bought and Joe installed a mister for our back porch. It is a little hose that is nailed up on our back porch ceiling that mists water. It is going to be great in a few weeks when the temperature reaches 100 degrees everyday. We also bought Joey a new water pool/sprinkler. Here he is playing with it.

I also thought that maybe I had escaped Joey saying the word "no" anytime soon. Well, I was wrong. He has started saying "na na na na" which translates to me saying "no no no no." He is becoming a little stubborn,(like his daddy) and once he sets his mind to something, he will do it/get it(like his mommy.)

When I downloaded the next pictures, I realized how silly Joey looks with this hat on. But the sun here is so hot and he won't wear sunglasses. He doesn't like the hat either. I told him that he has to wear it outside and if he doesn't want to wear it, he has to go inside. So occasionally he will walk inside and take it off and then try to come back outside without it on.

When Joey saw the water squirting out of the hose connector, he decided to try to drink the water. He stood there for a good 10 minutes playing with that water and taking occasional drinks.

My weekend just got better than it was going to be! Joe has been in Abeline, TX for the past week and he wasn't supposed to get home until next Friday. Today he called to tell me that he will be getting home tomorrow! Also this weekend, my cousins Eva and Tina are coming for a visit. They will get here on Saturday. I know that Joey will enjoy playing with them and giving them hugs and kisses. I am so excited to have visitors! Have a good Memorial Day weekend!

Mother's Day Weekend

We had such a good Mother's Day weekend. It started with my mom coming into town on Friday. The plan was for me to go pick her up from the airport and then we would go straight to Joey's eye doctor appointment. Of course, that didn't work out. The flight that she was supposed to take was full and since she flies standby, she didn't get on. So Joey and I went to his doctor's appointment alone because Joe was flying that day. We got there a little early and then waited about 45 minutes after our appointment time until we finally got called back. During that time, Joey was playing ball with another little boy. The ball rolled under a chair and a lady picked it up for Joey and handed it to him. Joey said "dak-do" which actually sounds a little like "thank you" in person. The lady looked at me and said "he just said thank you!" I was so proud of my boy.

On Saturday, my mom and I went to get our nails done as a Mother's day treat. On Sunday, we went to brunch, played outside with Joey for awhile, and then went out to dinner. My mom left on Monday. The weekend went so fast but we had a great time and Joey always enjoys the extra attention. The weather was in the 90's this weekend with not a lot of wind so we definately took advantage of that! Joey has decided that he doesn't like to get his picture taken anymore. Maybe it is the flash, I don't know. But he refuses to look at the camera and smile. Here are the pictures from Mother's day weekend: Mother's Day.

Major McKenna

Joe's pin-on yesterday went great. Joey was wonderful and ate his grapes, stared at Joe's bosses daughters and sat quietly throughout the whole ceremony. After the ceremony, we brought Subway for everyone and the squadron provided a cake. Unfortunately, someone took my camera from me before everything began and I did not get a picture of the cake. I don't even really know what it looked like because by the time we saw it, it was all cut up and half gone. Here are the pictures if you would like to see them: Joe's Promotion.

Invitation

An invite went out today to Joe's squadron for his pin-on that will take place on Wednesday. Originally it was supposed to take place on Friday but it was moved up a few days. I can't believe that we are becoming the old people.

Lieutenant Colonel Rodney F. Todaro
cordially invites you to attend a military ceremony
in honor of
Major Joseph W. McKenna

on the occasion of his promotion in the United States Air Force
Wednesday, the 29th of April

at three o'clock in the afternoon
Conference Room 107

Bldg 145

Edwards Air Force Base, California

Sunday

This picture is ridiculous. Joe and I both laughed when we saw it.



Minutes before I took the picture, it was Joey sitting in that exact same seat.



We had such a great day yesterday playing outside and going for a walk. There was actually no wind! Or atleast it was under 10 mph. I guess that feels like no wind to us here. We went to a picnic on Saturday and I wore my fleece because the wind was so cold! Hopefully that is the last of the cold weather!

Week 2 in Pittsburgh

We got back from Pittsburgh on Wednesday without any trouble. It was a long almost 5 hour flight and after that flight I have decided that I will never do another direct flight with a child. It's just not fair for Joey to have to sit on an airplane for that long.

During our last week in Pittsburgh, we spent somemore time with my parents, my grandmother, my brother Mike and his fiance, Maggie and her family, and my friend Aimee and her daughter Mia. We were invited to Maggie's parents house for their Easter, the Greek Easter. Joey was so good there, eating, watching his portable DVD player, and flirting with all of the girls there.

Anyways, here are some more pictures from week 2 in Pittsburgh.

Joey with his Aunt Maggie on Greek Easter.

Joey attacking his friend, Mia.

My boy is a lover, not a fighter. He loves Mia and wanted to keep kissing her.

Joey with his great grandma. He wouldn't get too close to her but he loved all of her knick knacks around the house and her garbage can. Oh, and he broke her clock. But she still wants us come back to visit.

We're in Pittsburgh!

Joey and I decided to take a trip to Pittsburgh. Joe had to go away for two weeks and I didn't want to stay in the desert alone. We were supposed to get here last Thurdsay, April 9. We drove to Las Vegas to get the flight. The drive to Vegas is about 3 hours from Edwards. We got there, got to the gate and found out that the flight was cancelled because of mechanical issues. We went back to the ticketing counter and stood inline to get rebooked. By 6:00 pm, we had a flight for Friday morning and our bags. I wasn't about to drive back to Edwards. The airline was giving everyone a free room at a hotel close to the strip and if I didn't have Joey, that would have been great. But I didn't feel safe so Joe called the AF base that is about 25 mins away and got us a room. Of course, the room didn't have a crib/pack n'play for Joey so he had to sleep in bed with me. Because of that, I didn't sleep all night because of two reasons. First, I was afraid that he would roll off the bed and get hurt. Second, Joey was in the middle of me and about 5 pillows and he wanted to spread out while he slept. So I was on the edge of the bed, almost falling off. At 4am, we left the base and drove to the airport for our 6am flight. We ended up getting a whole row to ourselves so Joey slept on the plane and I stared into space. What an interesting trip.

Since then we have been having a great time here. Joey has become a huge flirt and loves to perform for groups of women. He had fun with his Easter basket and LOVED the bubbles. We hid them so that we didn't have to blow bubbles anymore. We have spent time with my parents, my brother Mike and his fiance Maggie, my cousin (Joey's godmother), my aunt and my friend Aimee and her daughter Mia. We also got went to my great aunts last Friday for Good Friday and spent some time with some cousins. Oh, and we have also done a lot of shopping. I have been to the mall everyday this week so far:)

Here are some pictures from our first week in Pittsburgh.

Joey looking at his Easter Basket

Joey mad because I wouldn't open his bubbles.

Joey and my brother, Mike, blowing bubbles.

This is Reggie, Mike and Maggie's dog. He is my new buddy. But don't tell CeCe because she hates him. She isn't here with us but when she is here she walks by him and growls. He weighs about 50 lbs more than him but that doesn't stop her.

The Easter Bunny

I made a last minute trip to the mall to see the Easter Bunny today. Actually, my friend Dina called me this morning and said that she was going to the mall and wanted us to go along. We hurried up and got ready and met her there. She was taking her kids to see the Easter Bunny and to be honest, I thought Joey would flip out like he did with Santa so I didn't put too much thought into what he was going to wear. We got there before the bunny got there so as we were waiting in line he walked up. Joey was soooo excited! When it was our turn to go see him, Joey walked right up to him and touched him. He just stared at him with this crazy smile on his face. I took that as a good sign, put him on the Easter Bunny's lap and the lady snapped away! We didn't get a great smile, but I think that he has a pretty cute face in the pictures:) I used my phone camera to take a picture of the picture so the quality isn't that great, but you get the picture.

First Cookout of the Year

On Saturday we had a cookout at our house. It was semi-last minute. Joey had a great time running around inside and outside. Some of our friends brought over a jumpy castle and that was definately a hit with the kids. My favorite part of the cookout was when Joey started stealing grapes from one of the little girl's plate. When he realized that there was fruit dip on the plate, he took her fork from her and started forking the dip into his mouth. That's my boy...

We had a really good time and being the wonderful photographer that I am, I took some great pictures. Enjoy...

Joey the morning of the cookout.

The sun and some people in our backyard.

Joey playing with his friend Zachary. This is my favorite picture.

Joey playing with his friends Zachary and Erin.

Caroline and Natalie playing. Don't they have the cutest faces?!?!?!

Anyone want me to take some family pictures for them? Wedding photos?